Sublime
by Villanelle
Summary: Jesse gives Gabriel the gift of immortality. Vignette 2 uploaded, finished. Anger pounds into Jesse, strong, and unforgiving as rain.
1. Mark

Title: Sublime  
Author/pseudonym: Villanelle  
Fandom: Mutant X  
Pairing: None  
Rating: PG  
Status: incomplete  
Archive: Do not archive without telling me!  
Author websites: www.villanelle.net/jesse  


Spoilers: Slight spoilers for Times Squared, Sign From Above, and Power Play

Disclaimers: The world and characters of Mutant X is the property of Tribune Entertainment and other companies. This piece is for entertainment purposes only.  
  
Notes: I've always wondered why Jesse is the only Mutant X team member to never have a real encounter with Gabriel Ashlocke. The rest have their reasons for hating him with a passion, but not Jesse. This is my attempt to explore Jesse's feelings regarding Gabriel. This fic is unbetaed and English is not my first language, so pardon any grammatical errors.   
  
Summary: Jesse gives Gabriel the gift of immortality.  
  
**CHAPTER 1**  
  
Three bodies. A male security guard, face down on the very blood meant to keep him alive. A nameless woman. Green eyes as stark yet broken as stained glass, devoid of feeling. A man dressed in a white lab coat and pressed pants. Stretched on the floor, arms brought up to the sky like a prayer to an unknown God.  
  
The floor; wet, slippery marble. Red poisoning white.   
  
In the heart of it all, Gabriel Ashlocke. Palms spread. A bolt of electricity being born in between. A smirk forming on his lips.   
  
A bolt of burning blue blinds you, and darkness chooses to swallow you before the pain eats you alive.  
  
***************  
_Yesterday_  
  
It happened almost every night, and for this one, you were the first to hear Shalimar's screams. You were at her room in seconds. It took you awhile to find her but her room was so dark, and everything was astray, that you couldn't find her within the chaos. Finally, you remember how she was when Richard died, in times of grief and fear, Shalimar hid herself under the bed, away from the rest of the world.   
  
And that was exactly where you find her, crouched, sweaty, shaking in fear. You reach out to her. "Shal," you whisper, calling out her name in a voice you hope would soothe her.  
  
"He's here," she mutters, eyes stark, staring into space. "He's here."  
  
A flash of red streaks into your eyesight for a moment, at the thought of him invading her mind again. You dislike seeing Shalimar like this, and most of all it disturbs you. Because she has always been so strong. And you have always been so weak. Yet here you are right now, crawling under the bed, coughing at the mercy of dust bunnies, and pulling her towards you. Comforting her. Telling her that no one will hurt her.  
  
She is shaking. "He's here," she says again. "He's here."  
  
You pull her closer, hoping your warmth will stop her from shaking. "No, he's not," you reassure her.  
  
_But I am.  
_  
*****************  
  
"Wake up, Jesse."  
  
You startle awake at the voice, deep and teasing. A low moan makes its way from your throat as you feel the pain joyously traversing all over your body. The cold marble beneath you stings your cheek and you realize you are lying facedown on the floor. You struggle to get up but your arm collapses beneath you. Instinctively you take a breath. Mass your arm and lift yourself up.   
  
"Interesting. Maybe I should try that with my powers too."  
  
You whirl around to the source of the voice. Gabriel smirks at you and for a moment you focus on this familiarity, your head pounding in pain at your attempts to reminisce the reason why you are here in the first place, in some unknown room in some unknown building, facing a man everyone you know fears.  
  
Gabriel steps closer. "Except you," he tells you, his voice silky yet contorting, reminding you of the danger that lurks beneath. He reads the littlest of thoughts streaking into the blur that is now your mind, throwing them to your face. You wince at its clarity. "I never gave you a reason to."  
  
"You're wrong," you manage to mutter. "I've always hated you."  
  
He laughed. "What for, Jesse? Because Adam told you to?"  
  
You snap at the mention of Adam's name. It was a short collection of words but Gabriel's intent hits you like a ton of bricks. "I don't do everything Adam tells me to. I don't' feel everything he wants me to feel, and I don't agree with everything he says." You clench your fist as Gabriel laughs again, the mockery starting to grill at the last bits of patience you have left. "What do you want with me?"  
  
Gabriel cocked his head in your direction. "I should be asking you that question."  
  
A smirk forms in your own lips, mimicking those that seemed permanently implanted to those of the man in front of you. "So read me and find out for yourself."  
  
"I'd love to, but that would be too easy."  
  
You look around, trying to remember. And then it hits you. Like a bullet. And you mass your personal shields just in time to protect you from it.  
  
But it hits you anyway, drilling into you with an incessant need. The truth. You reach into your jacket. You remember how careful you were to choose one with huge pockets. And huge pockets you need. Your fingers reach inside, no need to search, as if it knows what it will find long before it touched it.   
  
Blue liquid. Carefully wrapped in plastic. As blue as the light that caused you the darkness earlier.  
  
You close your eyes, forcing yourself to remember more. You were updating the New Mutant database. You stumbled into Adam's personal files. The data was encrypted. Your fingers flew across the keyboard and in seconds you pushed the shields away. You smile for a moment at the memory. Of beating Adam. Of knowing more than him. That you were better than him.   
  
Even for just a moment.  
  
"That's the only ingredient I need to make a cure," Gabriel's voice pulls you from the memory of your personal victory. "And you came here to give it to me. In exchange for answers." He smirked again. "Answers I'm all but willing to give you."  
  
You straighten up, head free from pain, mind clear and ready for whatever's coming next. "I want you to leave Shalimar alone."  
  
For a moment, Gabriel's eyes blank out, and you know he was in her mind, invading it, destroying the fragile pedestal of power that made Shalimar what she is. A pedestal that you maintain by making yourself hers. A pedestal you need to keep strong, in fear of everything around you to crumble.  
  
So in a second your fingers are on his arm and you are shaking him. "Stop it," you whisper. "Leave her alone."  
  
He shakes you off and you wince in pain as your back bangs into a wall. "Shalimar's mine," he tells you, voice dripping in an emotion that you can only place as evil. "And since you're hers, you're mine too."  
  
You straighten up, ignoring the pain. "I'm not yours," you whisper, your voice cracking. You must have broken your back from the impact.  
  
"No, but I wish you were," Gabriel answers, what seemed to be a real wistful look ghosting into his face. "Really, Jesse, why do you waste your time with them?"  
  
_He doesn't mean what he's saying, does he?_ "Huh?"  
  
In a split second he is next to you, his fingers grasping your hair and he lifts your head up. You cry out softly. Gabriel repeats his question, impatient. "Why are you wasting your potential in Mutant X?"   
  
_Because I don't have a choice._"Because….Sanctuary is my home," you answer. You pull away from him. "Because the team cares for me and I'll probably never find that anywhere else. Seeing you hurt them is killing me inside and if there's one way for me to stop you I'll do it." Despite your fear, you look at him straight in the eye. "I'll do it."  
  
"Even if you have to buy my immortality?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I don't believe that you don't have anywhere else to go."  
  
Anger starts to boil inside you as Gabriel reads your mind again. "I don't care," you answer through gritted teeth. "Beyond Sanctuary and Mutant X, there's nothing the world can offer for me."  
  
"You can make one."  
  
Silence was your only response to Gabriel's unwelcome prodding. He lets out a sigh, plays with another electric bolt in his hand and you shudder as he suddenly frees it. "Fine. Have it your way."  
  
You hand him the plastic container from your pocket. You almost turn away, but you couldn't. Gabriel controls your every movement. You feel the hairs at the back of your neck rise up in trepidation. This is a man, who at this very moment, is almost immortal, and for the team's salvation, you have given him perfection. You wait as he cocks his head to the side, thinking deeply. And then he speaks. "I never answered your question, Jesse."  
  
"I never asked anything, " you answer testily.  
  
He smiles and his fingers make their way to the side of your face. You gasp in surprise at the sudden intrusion of personal space, for no one has gotten this close to you, only Shalimar. You struggle to free yourself but Gabriel keeps you still.   
  
"You want to know why I killed those people?" Gabriel whispers. His breath is hot against your face and you struggle vainly to get far away and at that moment it hits you just how powerful he really is. "Why I enjoy torturing Shalimar and the rest of your team? What real evil is?"  
  
You let out a breath and mass. Massing gives you strength for a short period of time but not even this was enough to free yourself from Gabriel's grasp. It seemed like he held your every move. Gabriel is now angry, and he grabs you, shoves you into the wall, hard. "You want to know what real evil is, Jesse?" he whispers, his voice hard and raspy in your ears, his breath tickling your neck. "Well, its right there in your Sanctuary. Real evil is when you can hurt people without killing yourself regretting it."  
  
And that was when he shoves you down, and the last thing you saw before darkness swallows you again was your blood staining the marble floor.   
  
Yet this time, you didn't feel any pain.  
  
  
End Chapter 1


	2. White Noise

Title: Sublime   
Author/pseudonym: Villanelle   
Fandom: Mutant X   
Pairing: None   
Rating: PG   
Status: Complete  
  
Spoilers: Slight spoilers for Times Squared, HUGE spoilers for Power Play, and a little knowledge of Blood Ties.  
Archive: Do not archive without telling me!   
Author websites: www.villanelle.net/jesse   
Disclaimers: The world and characters of Mutant X is the property of Tribune Entertainment and other companies. This piece is for entertainment purposes only.   
  
Notes: In the "Jesse in the Eps" thread, I was lamenting on how Jesse seemed to lack a reason to hate Ashlocke. This fic is my attempt to give him one. This is unbetaed, and English is not my first language, so pardon any grammatical errors. And oi! This fic is not slash, so don't get any ideas, please. :)  
  
Summary: Jesse gives Ashlocke the gift of immortality.   


**Vignette 2: White Noise**

People tend to lie, cheat, and use others for personal gain. It was a life lesson that you seem to enjoy learning one time too many. At the same time as it was a lesson, it was also a trap. A trap you fall for every single time.

How did it feel to be used, like a mere tool chiseled without a mind of its own to direct its personal movement? This….it starts with a tiny itch beneath the bones of your chest, until it forms its own fingers, nails scratching, forcing itself into the surface of your skin. Your defenses rise to push away the feeling but it is too strong, and it corrodes your skin, screaming to be let out. 

_I hate you, Noah. _

************** 

Gaumont aims his gun at you, sleek like an eagle poised for flight, or in this case, for a kill. But Gaumont is too cold, although he admires you for your powers that made you a weapon more lethal than the lasers he wielded with haughty confidence, he still finds his hands too clean to be tainted by real bloodshed. You find it funny how a man who could use people like you without the semblance of feeling or redemption could find it necessary to protect himself from bloodshed. Is it because he still finds his actions as true means of justice, or because blood itself is too painful because it finalizes his sin? You want to ask him that but you couldn't find the words. You are tired. Too tired. 

So he hands the gun to Sophia, and you still feel like you're not really there, like you're a mere audience of a silent movie without subtitles. Sophia turns to you with a predatory smile and aims the gun at you, and still, you can't hear her. 

She utters a curse at you coursing through the floor. You fall down to the next floor with an impact you almost felt if you didn't feel so dead. Shalimar utters your name. Brennan calls for you, Emma calls for you, Adam is worried about you. 

Still, everything around you is static. Just white noise, indescribable jolts of sound that lets you know that you're there, although you feel with such clarity that you're not. 

**************** 

"Adam, Gaumont's got the Xeraxium," you barely scream out. Shalimar asks if you're all right, Brennan immediately takes control of the situation like the leader that he pretends to be. Emma, silent in her query, feels for you, her deft fingers carrying your weight, knowing that you are here, that's all that matters. But worrisome thoughts fly into your mind like a dozen boomerangs all returning to the same hand that threw it with lightning speed. Gaumont has the Xeraxium. Gotta stop Gaumont. Gotta stop Sophia. Gotta get the laser. And Adam pierces these boomerangs with a knife. 

"Gaumont's been using you all along." 

And the silent movie begins again. You are numb as Emma and Shalimar help you out of the Twin Creaks, their arms are supporting you, but you can barely feel them there. Brennan, you can barely see or hear him as he gets the Helix, and miraculously, you are sitting down and you are all on your way to stop Gaumont. 

Brennan fights to control the Helix as Gaumont releases the lasers to stop all of you. But all of this is pure static to you, until now. 

A few minutes ago, you were a mere audience of the movie. You were tired. Too tired. 

Now, you are a part of it. And you are angry. Very angry. 

You didn't think when you released the electromagnetic pulse to cut off the motor of Gaumont's truck; Brennan's protest, a short distraction. Emma feels for you, you can feel her, looking for you, as you find your way to Gaumont and Sophia. 

Everything is so red in your eyes. Red, generating a heat that burns into your skin. Sophia wields the gun, now trembling in her hands. You smile inside as you feel her fear, so lucid amidst the burning rays of the sun. You decide to tease it, force it to come out stark naked. "Your plan was perfect, except for one minor flaw. Me." 

And her fear traverses into her words, as her pride forces her to speak despite the terror beneath her skin. "You should have stayed down when you could, Jesse." 

And Gaumont speaks. "You really think you can stop me?" 

Words, so common to most criminals so sure of themselves they become blind when face-to-face with death. 

"No need to, because you've taken care of that yourself." You spied the lasers creeping above you like a spider hanging on its thread, preparing to strike. You mutter more choice words. You mass in seconds, and you look at Gaumont's eyes widen in disbelief, his comrade's dog tags hanging at his palms for dear life. 

_Die, Noah._

And as Gaumont stands in between fear and disbelief, the lasers hit him. In seconds, he was gone, reduced to mere ashes, to nothingness. 

Like how he treated your very own being as he used you as a mere weapon for destruction. 

Like how your father treated your love for him as he used you for his own personal gain. 

Anger is like a flame licking into the etchings of the heart, strong and silent. It is an emotion that is raw, stark in its power, an emotion that drives human beings to love, an emotion that drives human beings to kill. 

And you like it. 

You like it so much, you felt your legs propel you forward to inspect Gaumont's ashes, and you pick up his comrade's dogtags with a newfound wonder. A newfound freedom. 

Somewhere in the distance, you hear Gabriel laughing. A laugh so far away, yet carrying the same mocking staccato beat that sent chills into your spine the first time you heard it. A laugh, peculiar. 

So evil. 

You stare one more time at the dog tags in your fingertips, and the silver turns into a mirror, and you see the young man staring at it with a smirk. The smirk on your face seems alien to you, an unfamiliar expression on your face that you struggle to remove, yet held on with tightly with dissent. And for a moment, you see Gaumont's eyes the split second before you pulled the plug from his life, staring at you, almost for mercy. It was eerie, like Gabriel's laughter. Faint, bereft of life, like the silver dog tags from Gaumont's fallen comrades, teasing you with the light. 

**End Vignette**


End file.
